This call follows Israel’s placing metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount following the terror attack there last week. Three Israeli Arab terrorists brought rifles to the Temple Mount and shot and murdered 2 Israeli Druze border policemen - Haiel Stawi and Kamil Shnaan, on July 14, 2017. The three terrorists, Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, Muhammad Hamed Abd Al-Latif Jabarin, and Muhammad Ahmad Mufaddal Jabarin, were shot and killed by other policemen during and right after the attack.

Subsequently, Israel closed the Temple Mount for two days, and then reopened it after installing metal detectors at the entrance. Palestinians are refusing to enter the site in protest of the metal detectors. It should be noted that even in Mecca the Saudi government installed metal detectors to prevent Islamic terror at its main Mosque. Clearly security measures to prevent terror are not seen as desecrating a holy site. Nonetheless, the PA and Fatah are using this, as well as Israel’s killing of the terrorist murderers during the attack, as excuses to call for more violence and more terror attacks against Israelis.

An example of this is the following statement by PA Parliament Member for Fatah, Fatah Revolutionary Council member, who is in charge of Fatah's Jerusalem portfolio Hatem Abd Al-Qader:

"We are moving towards an escalation. The Israelis are moving towards an escalation, and we have no problem on our part that there will also be an escalation from the Palestinian side. Escalation is answered with escalation, and violence is answered with violence. Those who begin are the guilty ones, and Israel bears the responsibility."

Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki has also completely ignored the fact that three terrorists murdered two Israelis last week, and have presented Israel’s following temporary closure of the Temple Mount as “an attack against the monotheistic religions”:

“Since 1967, nobody has dared to close the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Its closure today proves that Israel has come out in an attack against the monotheistic religions, and it is a wild battle against the tenets of faith and religion by wild law-breaking gangs that kill morning and night as if the killing of Palestinians is permissible, while anyone who kills Israelis is an aggressor and a terrorist, and therefore this is a completely unacceptable situation.”

[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 14, 2017]

Zaki was further quoted as calling for “popular resistance” and “resistance” - terms that Palestinians also use to describe acts that include the use of violence and terror attacks.

“Zaki added: 'I call for a popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians to describe the recent terror wave in which terrorists killed more than 40 people) that is capable of incorporating the masses, and I call on the Palestinians to bear their responsibility and show the world that the occupation is carrying out the worst kind of terror, and [popular resistance] is the right of the Palestinian people.’

It should be noted that media sources quoted Zaki as saying: ‘We are now paying the price of the imaginary peace that was implemented in the Oslo Accords [in 1993], and the resistance is the option of all of the Palestinians, and it is what will liberate the homeland. We should have shown the occupation and all the world that there will not be peace and stability in the Middle East, except by ending the occupation.’”

[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 14, 2017]

PFLP, a member party of the PLO, referred to the terror attack in which 2 were murdered as a “the heroic Jerusalem operation” and called the murderers “three young heroes.” The movement promised additional terror attacks:

“The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) emphasized that the heroic Jerusalem operation - which was carried out by three young heroes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas on Friday morning [July 14, 2017], and which led to their deaths as Martyrs (Shahids), the killing of 2 [Israeli] police officers, and the wounding of many soldiers (sic., aside from 2 murdered, only 1 wounded) - is a great quality turning point in our people’s resistance against the occupation.”

“The PFLP explained that this heroic operation conveyed a powerful message to the occupation's soldiers and the Israeli government that their crimes, steps, and operations against our people will encounter additional quality operations and attacks... The PFLP explained that the blood of the Martyrs of the Jerusalem operation, which has mixed with the blood of Martyr Bara Hamamdeh (i.e., terrorist who threw explosives at Israeli soldiers)... has highlighted for everyone that the intifada, resistance, and unity are our path to being liberated from and being rid of the occupation.”

[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 14, 2017]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented similar calls for violence by Abd Al-Qader. In 2014, following a tense period with several terror attacks in which Israelis were murdered (see details below,) he encouraged Palestinians to “become time bombs,” defending their “right” to “defend” themselves and the holy sites:

“The occupation leaves the residents of Jerusalem and the Palestinians no choice but to become time bombs, because of the blow [it is inflicting] on the holy places and Al-Aqsa. We have the right to defend ourselves, our city and our holy places.”

[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 21, 2014]

Earlier that year, Abd Al-Qader said that “the Al-Aqsa Mosque ‎[is] a red line, and that harming it would ‎inflame the situation in a way the ‎occupation would not expect,” and “warned” Israelis:

“We are warning Israel ‎not to play with fire, because it will be the ‎one to be burned by it if it harms the Al-‎Aqsa Mosque, for it [the mosque] belongs ‎to the Arabs and to all Muslims of the ‎world.”

[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 17, 2014]

The following are longer excerpts of the statements mentioned above:

Image and text posted on the Facebook page of the Fatah Movement’s Bethlehem Branch. The image shows overlaid pictures of a masked Palestinian with a keffiyeh (Arab headdress) on his head, barbed wire, and a masked Palestinian with his arms raised in front of the Dome of the Rock.

Text on image: “Rage for the Al-Aqsa Mosque!”

Posted text: “Calls to escalate the confrontations with the occupation forces at the friction points in response to the continued closure of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque (sic.)”

Note: Israel closed the Temple Mount for only two days following a terror attack on July 14, 2017, when Israeli Arab terrorists murdered two Israeli policemen. When Israel reopened the Temple Mount, Palestinians have refused to enter the site in protest of Israel placing metal detectors at the entrance.

Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, Muhammad Hamed Abd Al-Latif Jabarin, and Muhammad Ahmad Mufaddal Jabarin - Israeli Arab terrorists aged 29, 19, and 19, who shot from the Temple Mount at Israeli policemen, murdering 2 Israeli Druze border policemen - Haiel Stawi and Kamil Shnaan, on July 14, 2017. Two of the terrorists were shot and killed by other policemen during the attack. The third terrorist was shot and killed while trying to flee.

PA Parliament Member (Fatah) in charge of Fatah's Jerusalem portfolio Hatem Abd Al-Qader: "We are moving towards an escalation. The Israelis are moving towards an escalation, and we have no problem on our part that there will also be an escalation from the Palestinian side. Escalation is answered with escalation, and violence is answered with violence. Those who begin are the guilty ones, and Israel bears the responsibility."

[Official PA TV, The Occupied Capital, July 18, 2017]

The “escalation” PA Parliament Member Hatem Abd Al-Qader refers to is the PA’s interpretation of a Palestinian terror attack at the Temple Mount where three Israeli Arab terrorists, Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, Muhammad Hamed Abd Al-Latif Jabarin, and Muhammad Ahmad Mufaddal Jabarin, shot from the Temple Mount at Israeli policemen, murdering 2 Israeli Druze border policemen - Haiel Stawi and Kamil Shnaan, on July 14, 2017. Two of the terrorists were shot and killed by other policemen during the attack. The third terrorist was shot and killed while trying to flee. Subsequently Israel closed the Temple Mount for two days and later installed metal detectors at the entrance.

Headline: “Zaki: The illusion of peace has put Israel into a state of extremism, and the Palestinians must carry out popular resistance"

"Fatah Movement Central Committee member Abbas Zaki emphasized that the imaginary peace has caused Israel to live in a state of extremism and stupidity, and noted that the time has come for the world to recognize that the occupation is still committing crimes through which it strives to take revenge on all of the holy sites...

Regarding the fact that the occupation closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque (for two days, in response to a terror attack there on July 14, 2017; see note below -Ed.), Zaki emphasized that the Israeli occupation forces’ decision to close the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the Palestinian worshippers (sic., the Temple Mount was closed to all visitors) indicates that Jerusalem is in the sights, and the speed with which this type of decision was made is an insult to the dignity of the Muslims and Christians.

He said: 'Since 1967, nobody has dared to close the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Its closure today proves that Israel has come out in an attack against the monotheistic religions, and it is a wild battle against the tenets of faith and religion by wild law-breaking gangs that kill morning and night as if the killing of Palestinians is permissible, while anyone who kills Israelis is an aggressor and a terrorist, and therefore this is a completely unacceptable situation.' ...

He added: 'I call for a popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence) that is capable of incorporating the masses, and I call on the Palestinians to bear their responsibility and show the world that the occupation is carrying out the worst kind of terror, and [popular resistance] is the right of the Palestinian people.’

It should be noted that media sources quoted Zaki as saying: ‘We are now paying the price of the imaginary peace that was implemented in the Oslo Accords [in 1993], and the resistance is the option of all of the Palestinians, and it is what will liberate the homeland. We should have shown the occupation and all the world that there will not be peace and stability in the Middle East, except by ending the occupation.’”

[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 14, 2017]

The terms "all means," “all forms,” "peaceful uprising/resistance,” and “popular uprising/resistance" are ‎often used by PA leaders to refer to events that include violence and deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as rock-throwing, stabbings and even shootings. See ‎Mahmoud Abbas' reference to murderous terror as "peaceful" during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), which included numerous stabbings, shootings and car ramming attacks in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded.

Headline: “The Popular Front: The Jerusalem operation is a quality turning point in the resistance and the breaking of the Israeli security equation”

“The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) emphasized that the heroic Jerusalem operation (i.e., terror attack, 2 murdered) - which was carried out by three young heroes (i.e., terrorists Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, Muhammad Hamed Abd Al-Latif Jabarin, and Muhammad Ahmad Mufaddal Jabarin) at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas on Friday morning [July 14, 2017], and which led to their deaths as Martyrs (Shahids), the killing of 2 [Israeli] police officers, and the wounding of many soldiers (sic., aside from 2 murdered, only 1 wounded) - is a great quality turning point in our people’s resistance against the occupation.

The PFLP said in a press statement, a copy of which reached [the independent Palestinian news agency] Donia Al-Watan, that this operation succeeded in breaking through the security closure that the occupation soldiers are imposing on Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and broke the equation and arrogance of the Israeli security, which viewed Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque as an impenetrable fortress.

The PFLP added that the fact that the resistance succeeded in confronting the occupation’s soldiers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas from point-blank range constitutes an important turning point in our people’s intifada, which emphasizes that no Israeli soldier or settler is secure anywhere in the land of Palestine, not even in the most fortified areas.

The PFLP explained that this heroic operation conveyed a powerful message to the occupation's soldiers and the Israeli government that their crimes, steps, and operations against our people will encounter additional quality operations and attacks ...

The PFLP explained that the blood of the Martyrs of the Jerusalem operation, which has mixed with the blood of Martyr Bara Hamamdeh (i.e., terrorist who threw explosives at Israeli soldiers) at the Deheisheh [refugee camp], has highlighted for everyone that the intifada, resistance, and unity are our path to being liberated from and being rid of the occupation, and the only guarantee for thwarting all the plots of eliminating our people and its cause.”

[Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 14, 2017]

Bara Hamamdeh - 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist killed on July 14, 2017, by Israeli soldiers while he threw rocks and explosives at them during a confrontation at the Deheisheh refugee camp.

This following article was published during a period of high tension in Jerusalem. On Oct. 22 and Nov. 5, 2014, two separate terror attacks took place in which ‎Palestinians ‎drove their cars into pedestrians in Jerusalem, killing 4 and injuring dozens. On Oct. 29, 2014, Islamic Jihad member Mutaz Hijazi attempted to assassinate Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a prominent activist working to assure rights for Jews to visit and pray on the Temple Mount. On Nov. 18, 2014, two Palestinians entered a synagogue in Jerusalem and attacked worshippers with guns, knives and axes, killing 4 worshippers and a police officer.

“During a press conference organized yesterday [Nov. 20, 2014] by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem, under the heading ‘The tension [created] by the occupation still exists.’... [Fatah Revolutionary Council member] Hatem Abd Al-Qader, Fatah’s official for Jerusalem affairs, called for an Islamic summit [meeting] to draw up a plan to support the resolve of the residents of Jerusalem, in light of the attack on their city. He added: ‘The occupation leaves the residents of Jerusalem and the Palestinians no choice but to become time bombs, because of the blow [it is inflicting] on the holy places and Al-Aqsa.’ He added: ‘We have the right to defend ourselves, our city and our holy places. It is not the residents of Jerusalem that should calm down, but those who are invading Al-Aqsa, attacking women in an abominable manner, destroying the homes [of Jerusalem residents] and expropriating their lands.”

[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 21, 2014]

“Hatem Abd Al-Qader, [who is] responsible ‎for the Jerusalem [portfolio in Fatah] said ‎the next round [of confrontations] would ‎be between the Israeli settlers and the ‎‎[Arab] residents of Jerusalem, since [the ‎former] are continuing to settle and ‎‎[commit] atrocious acts against the ‎Palestinian people. He added that the ‎Palestinians are facing Jewish racism ‎and a new Nazism.‎

Abd Al-Qader added: ‘These atrocious ‎acts committed by the occupation will not ‎scare the residents of Jerusalem nor force ‎them to leave.’ He explained that the city ‎residents would not stand idly by in view ‎of the acts of the occupation and its ‎settlers against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.‎

Abd Al-Qader said the Al-Aqsa Mosque ‎was a red line, and that harming it would ‎inflame the situation in a way the ‎occupation would not expect. In this ‎context, he added: ‘We are warning Israel ‎not to play with fire, because it will be the ‎one to be burned by it if it harms the Al-‎Aqsa Mosque, for it [the mosque] belongs ‎to the Arabs and to all Muslims of the ‎world.’”‎